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The Saturday Special airs every Saturday at 3pm on Ideas Network stations and web streams.

This special hour allows us to bring you interesting, unusual and often provocative programs selected from stations and producers from around the world. Some programs are just a single hour, while others present a short series of related programs.

February 11 - 26, 2011

Black History Month is a remembrance of important people and events in the history of the African American people. This month, WPR offers a special program from poet Maya Angelou, and a two-part series from The Tavis Smiley Show.

February 11 - "Maya Angelou's Black History Month Special"

This one hour historical trek takes us from the 1950's thru the 1990's. Dr. Maya Angelou renders a poetic portrait of the day-to-day lives of African Americans during the civil rights era, when artists and activists, musicians and ministers joined hands with people from all walks of life to bring about a historic change in our culture.

February 18 - "The Tavis Smiley Show: Memories of the Movement" - Hour 1

Celebrating the courage, conviction, and commitment of the everyday people who made extraordinary contributions to American social progress, Memories of the Movement features poignant, humorous, unheard or little known stories from a number of well-known civil rights icons.

The first hour features stories from Dr. Freeman Hrabowski, Danny Glover, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., Dr. Raye Richardson, activist Yuri Kochiyama, Congressman John Lewis, Dorothy Tillman, Rev. Robert Graetz, Harry Belafonte, Andrew Young, Elizabeth Eckford and Jefferson Thomas of the Little Rock Nine, and comedian Dick Gregory.

February 25 - "The Tavis Smiley Show: Memories of the Movement" - Hour 2

In the second hour, we hear from the legendary actress Ruby Dee, Clarence Jones, Xernona Clayton, Dr. Gardner C. Taylor, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Rev. Amos Brown, journalist Earl Caldwell, Marian Wright Edelman, Taylor Rogers, and Rev. C.T. Vivian.

Previous Programs

December 3 - " The Promised Land: Think Like a Bee"

When you sit down at your holiday table, thank a bee. A third of the food on your plate is made possible by these pollinators, whose numbers are being decimated by disease and colony collapse disorder. But the bees have a champion in Marla Spivak, a University of Minnesota researcher and MacArthur "Genius" who thinks like a bee. Her intuitive approach - combined with scientific method - has given the world tremendous insight into these fascinating insects. Marla will show host Majora Carter (no newbie herself - Majora is an urban beekeeper) the secrets she's beginning to uncover about the lives of bees, and how bees can help we humans to be more resilient and to build healthier communities.

December 10 - "Squeezebox Stories: A Musical and Social History of the Accordion"

The accordion is about much more than the Polka. It's one of the first global instruments. Played all over the world everywhere from Italy to China, a look at what's behind the surprisingly wide appeal of this ultimate people's instrument.

December 17 - "Tinsel Tales: NPR Christmas Stories"

Christmas is a time of traditions, and over the years, NPR has created a few traditions of its own. In this hour-long special, wistfulness, joy, doubt, hope, all the emotions we feel at this time of year, all summoned up in memorable stories from the NPR broadcast archives.

December 24 - "Tinsel Tales 2"

NPR fills millions of homes each holiday with humor, warmth, and a host of festive voices. Continuing with the tradition of the first Tinsel Tales program, this is another collection of the best and most requested holiday stories. Joy, hope, and childhood memories overflow as NPR voices, past and present, tell stories of the season. Hosted by Lynn Neary.

December 31 - "The Capitol Steps: Politics Takes a Holiday"

Ring in the New Year with the Capitol Steps "Politics Takes a Holiday."

January & February, 2012

When was the last time somebody told you a really good story?

The Moth Radio Hour is old-fashioned storytelling on modern topics. Each episode presents a selection of the very best stories from The Moth, which has been staging live storytelling shows since 1997. The Moth Radio Hour features true stories told live on-stage without scripts, notes, props, or accompaniment. The Moth Radio Hour features most beloved tales and the stories behind the stories. The radio series debuted in 2009 and is now airing on more than 200 stations nationwide.

Some of the very things you love about The Moth - that it's smart, provocative radio that addresses some difficult topics - is why it's not always appropriate for all audiences.

January 7
A hair stylist recalls accompanying his father on hunting expeditions in Alabama, a young journalist carefully sets the stage to make her first time memorable, and best-selling novelist Walter Mosley cares for his ailing mother. Hosted by noted comic and storyteller Mike Birbiglia and producer Jay Allison.

January 14
A hiker is pinned underneath a refrigerator-sized boulder deep in the wilderness, a speechwriter describes his most challenging assignment ("Make Al Gore funny"), and a young art student battles her demons in the pursuit of love. Hosted by the founder of The Moth, George Dawes Green.

January 21
A high school quarterback leaves Montana as a promising son and returns years later to reveal a shocking secret; a boy from Sierra Leone describes his transformation from innocent child to cold-hearted soldier; a teenage girl discovers how to control her errant parrot; and a construction worker discovers the up-side of his girlfriend's one-year prison sentence. Hosted by The Moth's Senior Producer, Jenifer Hixson.

January 28
Christian McBride, a jazz bassist, is put to the test by his idol, Freddie Hubbard; a down and out comic considers ending it all until the universe sends him an unlikely sign; and New York writer Adam Gopnik details his daughter's cosmopolitan imaginary friend. Hosted by The Moth's Artistic Director, Catherine Burns.

February 4
A young woman is told to keep her heritage a secret...by her mother; a reckless partier gets shipwrecked and has to sober up enough to save the day; and an author contends with her unsupportive mother on her deathbed. Hosted by The Moth's Producing Director, Sarah Austin Jenness.